Compensation to Displaced Private Waste CompaniesCS/SB 996: Displacement of Private Waste Companies; Requiring a local government to pay a specified amount of compensation to a displaced private waste company at the end of a specified notice period; removing a provision authorizing a local government to pay a specified amount of compensation to a private waste company as an alternative to delaying displacement for a specified period; removing a provision authorizing a local government and a private waste company to negotiate such compensation and notice period

HB3– Preemption of Local RegulationsPreemption of Local Regulations; Prohibits
local governments from imposing or adopting new regulations on businesses &
business entities; specifies certain regulations expire & may only be
readopted after meeting specified criteria; preempts regulation & licensing
of professions & occupations to state; prohibits local governments from
requiring certain specialty contractors to obtain license; specifies job scopes
for which local jurisdiction may not require license.

SB 588– Single-use Plastic StrawsSingle-use Plastic Straws; Providing that a food service establishment may distribute a single-use plastic straw to a customer only if requested to do so by the customer; providing exceptions; providing that a food service establishment may make single-use plastic straws available through self-serve straw dispensers, etc.

HB6033 – Preemption of Recyclable and Polystyrene MaterialsPreemption of Recyclable and Polystyrene
Materials; Removes preemptions of local law relating to regulation of auxiliary
containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags; repeals preemption of local
laws regarding use or sale of polystyrene products to DACS.

And its accompanying bill, S88-Preemption of Recyclable and Polystyrene MaterialsPreemption of Recyclable and Polystyrene Materials; Deleting preemptions of local law relating to the regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags; repealing the preemption of local laws regarding the use or sale of polystyrene products to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, etc.

Residential Recycling Bill Clears First CommitteeCS/HB 771 (Overdorf) requires local government residential recycling contracts to include terms that would address strategies for reducing contamination in residential recycling loads. CS/HB 771 passed its first committee on March 12 and has two more committee stops. Its Senate companion, SB 816 (Perry), is awaiting its first committee hearing. The language in these bills was negotiated between the League, the Florida Association of Counties, and the solid waste industry in the 2018 legislative session. (O’Hara)

Posted 1/28/19

General Bill by Stewart Preemption of Recyclable and Polystyrene Materials: Deleting preemptions of local law relating to the regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags; repealing the preemption of local laws regarding the use or sale of polystyrene products to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, etc. Effective Date: 07/01/2019

Last Event: 12/13/18 S Referred to Community Affairs; Environment and Natural Resources; Rules on Thursday, December 13, 2018 9:26 AM

The 2018 Farm Bill also includes several new provisions that address food waste, promote knowledge about biodigester technologies, and which look at establishing a task force who’s role will be to identify biogas opportunities. The provisions are outlined in more detail below.

2018 Farm Bill Promotes Reducing Food WasteSeveral funding opportunities exist under the Bill to promote the recycling of food waste in order to prevent food waste from being discarded onto landfills, including:

1. Increasing Community Composting and Reducing Food Waste — US$ 25 million has been allocated annually for the next five years to develop an effective plan and strategy to reduce food waste through municipal composting in 10 or more states. The aim is to produce compost; provide agricultural producers with ready access to compost in order to improve crop production; reduce farmer’s dependence on, and use of chemical fertilizers; improve the quality of soils; promote waste management and the development of permaculture business enterprises; increase water retention in soils; and ultimately reduce the volume of food waste that ends up on municipal landfills.2. Local Agriculture Market Program — this program has grants of up to US$ 500,000 available to help establish new business opportunities or to promote marketing strategies that will reduce food waste on farms.3. Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production — the bill has established a grant program “to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production practices,” which should give sustainable urban crop production methods such as aquaponics and hydroponics a boost.4. Food Loss and Waste Reduction Liaison — The new Bill directs the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish liaison who will serve as an intermediary promoting interagency collaboration. The USDA will also conduct a food waste study looking at methodologies used to measure food waste, factors that contribute to food waste, financial costs associated with food waste, the effectiveness of current liability protection for food donors, as well as other relevant issues.

Interagency Biogas Opportunities Task Force

The Bill also establishes an Interagency Biogas Opportunities Task Force who will be responsible for coordinating policies and overseeing programs to promote biogas research and investment in the biogas industry.

Carbon Utilization and Biogas Education Program

Furthermore, the Bill also establishes the Carbon Utilization and Biogas Education Program, which earmarks US$ 1 million annually over the next five years (from 2019 to 2023) to educate agricultural growers and other stakeholders about opportunities for collecting organic waste from various sources for processing in a single biodigester.